“Great. See you soon.”
She hung up and made sure she drove as sedately as possible, though she wanted to speed demon all the way there. She’d be so annoyed if she got delayed by a ticket, though.
Dev opened the door before Jia could knock and then looked sheepish. “The guard rang me that you were coming up.”
“Oh, how nice.” She took a step in and gazed up at him.
She wasn’t sure who moved first, but their mouths fused together. Slowly, his arms came around her waist, pulling her tight to him.
For all the suddenness, it was relatively chaste. No tongue, just softly parted lips brushing against each other. Still, this sweet, soft kiss made her feel like the Fourth of July had taken up residence in her belly. Forget butterflies, she had fireworks.
His hand smoothed up and down her back. She wound her arms around his neck and rose up on her tiptoes, but it was still hard to get the right angle, him being so much taller than her.
He made a rough noise against her lips and lifted her abruptly off her feet. The wall came up against her back for support, and he pressed himself against her front, keeping her suspended there. She felt shameless as she wrapped her wobbly legs around his waist for stability.
How could she have wondered if her attraction to Dev was based on anything other than him in real life? This desire ran bone-deep, and it wasn’t for any photo on her phone, but for the flesh-and-blood man.
Dear diary, this is how you kiss a woman.
Everything was new and clumsy, but neither of them cared. His tongue brushed against hers, and the sensation was so delightful she sought it out, chasing his warmth. His hands grew more sure on her waist as they kissed for long minutes, warm, drugging kisses that shoved every other thought out of her head.
He was so warm and strong, and she wanted to crawl inside him and steal some of that warmth for herself. She plastered herself against him tighter.
He ripped his mouth away and she moaned. “We don’t have to do this right now,” he said.
What? Her brain was a bunch of fried synapses that were never going to fire again.
“Would you rather wait? Or have dinner? It doesn’t have to be tonight, even.”
Being a gentleman was all cute, but not now. “Are you trying to kill me?” she wheezed.
His smile was slow. “I take that as a no.”
“I’m tired of waiting. I’m certain. Are you?”
“More certain than I’ve ever been of anything.” He paused. “I regret to inform you of one thing, though.”
“What’s that?”
“There’s only one bed.”
Her laughter trailed behind them as he carried her to the bedroom. She wrapped her arms and legs around him like a spider monkey and kissed his neck and cheeks, the stubble there making her lips tingle.
Her legs were wobbly when he lowered her to her feetnext to the bed, but she steadied herself against the nightstand. The curtains in the room were closed, the midday sun peeking around them, their own sexy cocoon.
His fingers were economical and quick as he unbuttoned his shirt, but her mind provided a bass beat for her first private striptease. Each motion revealed a new, tantalizing slice of skin and muscle. His flat brown nipples were fascinating. She wanted to touch them, and then she remembered she could do exactly that.
He stood patiently for her while she took her time exploring his torso. Over the pebbled skin of his nipples, down the subtly ridged lean belly, around the perfect circle of his navel. She stroked her forefinger along his smooth flank and slowly moved around him in a full circle, trailing that finger over his back, along his other side, back to his belly button.
She faced him. “Pretty good view, sir.”
His face cracked a smile, but his gaze was hot. Still, he stood there, his body vibrating but leashed.
“I suppose I should be taking things off, too.”
His nostrils flared, but he neither agreed nor disagreed.
He was leaving everything up to her, she realized. Oh, fun. She quickly undid her head scarf. She wished she could have brushed out her hair—it didn’t fall out in a cascade of curls, but in a limp bun. Scarf head, her nemesis.
